A cautionary tale...
Discussion
Hi all.
When playing about with disc brakes, be careful. Wednesday night, 2045: reasonably experienced rider/bike fixyman fettling a front brake, bike in workstand. Spun front wheel to check disc runout, accidentally knocked wheel when spinning, forks turned and left middle finger got munched between disc spokes and fork leg...
Silly, but easily done...
I completely severed the extensor tendon on left middle finger as the disc spoke cut it to the bone at the 3rd knuckle (nearest nail) and the next spoke round tore the nail off the bed. Already pretty shocked I had to rotate the wheel backwards to release finger before going for help as wife was out.
Got seen at 0100 thursday morning in a&e. Xrays fine. Back in at 1100, admitted 1200, in theatre at 1800. Local anaesthetic blew root of finger up like a balloon. Finger sliced open further to find the ends of the tendon and stitch back together before stitching skin back up.
I'm now in plaster and sling, and 8 - 12 weeks off the bike. If I overdo it and snap the repair, I'm back in for another op and the tendon will then be frayed too and might not be fixable.
Be bloody careful when working on brake discs. A second's inattention has nailed me for minimum 2 months, caused a lot of inconvenience (I only have one usable hand, and its my dominant hand I hurt) and briefly scared the hell out of me.
Try spinning a disc wheel, and feed a carrot into the disc just behind the fork leg! You'll get the idea.
Ed.
When playing about with disc brakes, be careful. Wednesday night, 2045: reasonably experienced rider/bike fixyman fettling a front brake, bike in workstand. Spun front wheel to check disc runout, accidentally knocked wheel when spinning, forks turned and left middle finger got munched between disc spokes and fork leg...
Silly, but easily done...
I completely severed the extensor tendon on left middle finger as the disc spoke cut it to the bone at the 3rd knuckle (nearest nail) and the next spoke round tore the nail off the bed. Already pretty shocked I had to rotate the wheel backwards to release finger before going for help as wife was out.
Got seen at 0100 thursday morning in a&e. Xrays fine. Back in at 1100, admitted 1200, in theatre at 1800. Local anaesthetic blew root of finger up like a balloon. Finger sliced open further to find the ends of the tendon and stitch back together before stitching skin back up.
I'm now in plaster and sling, and 8 - 12 weeks off the bike. If I overdo it and snap the repair, I'm back in for another op and the tendon will then be frayed too and might not be fixable.
Be bloody careful when working on brake discs. A second's inattention has nailed me for minimum 2 months, caused a lot of inconvenience (I only have one usable hand, and its my dominant hand I hurt) and briefly scared the hell out of me.
Try spinning a disc wheel, and feed a carrot into the disc just behind the fork leg! You'll get the idea.
Ed.
Indeed - sorry to hear about that....hope you're back riding soon. 
My stress levels go into orbit when I'm working on one of the bikes on the stand and one of the kids wanders into the garage and then proceeds to spin the wheels....I don't want to ban them from the garage but it's a fine line that's being trodden.
My stress levels go into orbit when I'm working on one of the bikes on the stand and one of the kids wanders into the garage and then proceeds to spin the wheels....I don't want to ban them from the garage but it's a fine line that's being trodden.
I did a very similar thing although got away with it, bike stood upright, undoing QR skewer to put bike back in the car after the ride. I didn't have the brake on, and had one finger through the disc while I was undoing the QR. The handlebars twisted and the bike began to lean over, front wheel rotated forward and the tip of my finger was in the way.
It was unbelievably painful and not a mistake I'll make again.
It was unbelievably painful and not a mistake I'll make again.
Mate did same thing on Ducati wheel!
Ah yes Crowthorne. Best circuit i've raced for a long while.
More pics; here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23318875@N02/sets/721...
G.
Ah yes Crowthorne. Best circuit i've raced for a long while.
More pics; here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23318875@N02/sets/721...
G.
g_stacey said:
Mate did same thing on Ducati wheel!
Ah yes Crowthorne. Best circuit i've raced for a long while.
More pics; here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23318875@N02/sets/721...
G.
These are not the images we are looking for..Ah yes Crowthorne. Best circuit i've raced for a long while.
More pics; here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23318875@N02/sets/721...
G.
g_stacey said:
Mate did same thing on Ducati wheel!
Ah yes Crowthorne. Best circuit i've raced for a long while.
More pics; here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23318875@N02/sets/721...
G.
Where in the UK is this?Ah yes Crowthorne. Best circuit i've raced for a long while.
More pics; here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23318875@N02/sets/721...
G.
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